Parl't affairs min. affirms Egypt's keenness to promote human rights

BY

-

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 - 02:33 GMT

BY

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 - 02:33 GMT

Egypt's Minister of Parliament Affairs Omar Marwan during his speech in the session

Egypt's Minister of Parliament Affairs Omar Marwan during his speech in the session

CAIRO - 24 April 2019: The minister of Parliament affairs reviewed government efforts that reflect keenness to make progress in the human rights situation, including increasing women's representation in the Parliament to 25 percent and guaranteeing appropriate representation for the disabled, youth, Christians and expatriates.

The step comes as part of a number of constitutional amendments recently approved after a public referendum was conducted nationwide.



This came during Minister of Parliament Affairs Omar Marwan's participation in the 64th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in Sharm El Sheikh.

The session started on Wednesday with the participation of the AHCPR's commissioners, representatives of the African Union secretariat and delegations from many African countries, foreign diplomatic missions and relevant UN organizations.

Also, 35 national institutions concerned with human rights and over 100 foreign and African non-governmental human rights organizations, including 12 Egyptian organizations, participated.

Zimbabwe's Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi highlighted on Wednesday the importance of continuing coordination with human rights officials in Africa.

sh3

Ziyambi said that he appreciates that Zimbabwe got the opportunity to take part in the session, affirming his country's commitment to further human rights progress and review human rights reports in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.

AOHR addresses public liberties in Arab, African states

CAIRO – 23 April 2019: The Arab Organization for Human Rights has spoken about the public liberties in the Arab and African countries.



During the session, a representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) revealed the existence of 68 million forcibly displaced people in the world, confirming that one-third of these citizens are hosted by countries in the African continent.

sh1

He expressed the OHCHR's appreciation of the efforts exerted by some countries that have hosted the displaced people who fled their homes. "There are countries and communities that have opened their doors socially and economically to millions of displaced people despite the challenges these countries face," he added.

He highlighted the role of civil society in the protection of human rights, stressing that civil society organizations shall work on applying all the fundamentals of liberties.

Some reports issued by the African continent indicate the violation of the legitimate demands of human rights activists, targeting, attacking and torturing them, he said, adding that some legislations in some countries hinder the activists' work.

Human rights in Egypt

As part of Egypt’s interest to promote fundamental human rights and freedoms, Egypt’s government announced in August 2018 that it approved a draft resolution to form a permanent higher committee on human rights.

As various western reports and human rights activists generally accuse Egypt of human rights abuses, this committee will focus on handling and responding to any accusations against Egypt with respect to its human rights record.

This human rights committee will also be concerned with following up on Egypt’s implementation of international human rights obligations and agreements that are implemented on a global level. It will also be in charge of preparing reports, proposing policies and suggestions on how to handle issues of human rights.

The decision comes in accordance with the president's instructions to take action at both the institutional and executive levels to promote human rights,constitutional rights and basic freedoms on the national level.

On Monday, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received the ACHPR delegation in Cairo, where he urged them to “closely observe” the situation in Egypt.

Headed by Soyata Maiga, ACHPR heard a preview by Sisi about the developments and efforts exerted over the last few years to improve economic, social, service and living standards.

The president emphasized that promoting human rights is one of Egypt’s priorities in Vision 2030.

Comments

0

Leave a Comment

Be Social